PSU Softball eliminated from LEC Tournament

KEENE, N.H. – The Plymouth State University
softball team, seeded sixth in the Little East Conference
tournament, managed only four hits in two games Thursday and was
eliminated with consecutive losses to the top two seeds in games
played at Keene State College’s Owl Athletic Complex.

The Panthers dropped the tournament’s first game against
top-seeded and regular season champion Eastern Connecticut State
University (29-4-1), which is ranked first in the NCAA New England
region and 11th nationally, falling to the Warriors,
3-0. PSU’s second game turned ugly as the Panthers were
routed by second-seeded Keene State College, 17-0. The
Panthers complete the season with a 13-22 overall record.

Sophomore Allie Luisi (North Kingstown, R.I.)
provided the highlight for the Panthers, connecting on a double to
center field in the fourth inning of the opener against Eastern
Conn. It was Luisi’s 13th double of the
season, setting the PSU single-season mark of 12 she previously
shared with Kristen Hodsdon (1994), Jen
Arrajj (1997) and Adriene Harvey (2002).

That ended up as the only hit off Eastern sophomore All-America
Molly Rathbun (Hebron, Conn.), who pitched a complete-game
one-hitter with 13 strikeouts and no walks to improve her record to
20-1. Rathbun also cracked a two-run home run in the fifth
inning to seal the win.

Keene State sophomore Laura Chandler (Wakefield, Mass.) hit a
two-run home run in the first inning against PSU and the Owls never
looked back, scoring 17 runs on 19 hits, including four home runs.
They finished off the five-inning game with nine runs in the fifth
inning.

PSU nearly got on the board in the second inning when the score was
still 2-0. Senior Sammi Romano (Kingston,
N.H.) doubled with two outs and went to third on a single by
freshman Jenn Bove (Medford, Mass.), and Bove
stole second to put runners at second and third. But the
Panthers couldn’t push a run across and Keene State scored
three runs in each of the next two innings to put the game away.

Luisi finished the season as the team’s hitting leader with a
.398 batting average, 13 doubles, two home runs and 21 RBI.
Junior Kortney Nedeau (Kennebunk, Maine) finished
with a .360 average, 10 doubles, and team-highs of seven home runs
and 24 RBI. Senior Kay LaBrie (Somersworth,
N.H.) set the PSU single-season (25) and career (49) records for
stolen bases, breaking the marks held for over two decades by
Linda Altman (17 in 1981) and Kathy
O’Connor (33 from 1984-88).